This session will discuss recently issued accounting and auditing guidance that impacts employee benefit plans as well as employee benefit plan-related hot topics, common pitfalls and best practices. Also, there will be discussion about relevant tools and resources which can be used to assist in identifying and applying recent guidance.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify current trends and hot topics in the areas of accounting, reporting and auditing for employee benefit plans
• Identify the relevant tools and resources available to assist in applying recent accounting and auditing guidance.

A practical, interactive session where practitioners from firms of different sizes share the tools and staffing models that have measurably improved audit efficiency. We’ll cover how we select and implement specific technologies and resourcing approaches, lessons learned with change management, and simple ways to track impact on quality, budget, and timelines.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify criteria to evaluate and select audit tools and staffing solutions that improve efficiency while maintaining quality.
• Evaluate lessons learned from firms of varying sizes on implementing technology and alternative staffing models (co-sourcing, offshore/onshore, specialized roles).
• Apply practical tips and basic metrics to measure adoption and efficiency gains in their own engagements.

SOC 1 reports are essential for understanding the controls at service organizations that impact employee benefit plan audits—but using them correctly can be challenging. This session will dive into the most common errors auditors make when relying on SOC reports and provide strategies to avoid inspection findings related to their use. We’ll cover how to properly document and leverage SOC 1 reports in your audit process, ensuring compliance and audit quality. To bring it all to life, we’ll share real-world stories—“For the Love of SOC”—highlighting lessons learned from actual files. The session will also cover best practices for documenting SOC 1 reliance and integrating findings into the overall risk assessment. Designed for auditors and plan sponsors, this presentation will help demystify SOC 1 reports and enhance audit quality and compliance.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify common errors auditors make when reviewing and relying on SOC 1 reports in employee benefit plan audits
• Apply best practices to properly document and use SOC reports
• Analyze real-world examples to understand practical challenges and solutions when incorporating SOC reports

AuditMiner has taken payroll and recordkeeper reconciliation to the next level. In this session, you’ll see how the platform continues to evolve, with forthcoming capabilities like demographic data integration and auto-mapping that will further transform how auditors and plan sponsors manage payroll data.

This deep-dive walkthrough highlights how AuditMiner's new features enables auditors to:

• Automatically reconcile payroll and recordkeeper data with precision
• Integrate demographic insights to build a complete and accurate census
• Streamline implementation with intelligent auto-mapping of columns
• Save hours of manual work through with automated audit-ready outputs

If you’re an audit firm looking to increase efficiency, this session will help you see exactly how AuditMiner’s payroll module drives audit confidence without complexity.

This session will explore the cyber security threats that define your operational risk landscape, examine how artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to reshape that landscape and outline how cyber liability insurance can help mitigate the financial and legal consequences of these risks. The goal for this session is to create awareness of the cyber risks associated with sponsoring and operating a retirement plan and to help Plan sponsors to perform risk assessment processes to better mitigate these risks and understand the insurance landscape to insure against such risks.

Learning Objectives:

• To create awareness of the cyber risks associated with sponsoring and operating a retirement plan
• To help Plan sponsors perform risk assessment processes to better mitigate these risks and understand the insurance landscape to insure against such risks

This session is specifically designed to assist participants in performing or considering performing PEP audits. Participants will gain valuable insights into the considerations to make before accepting a PEP engagement as well as how you might anticipate, and address challenges encountered in PEP audits. Listen to EBP audit experts discuss issues they encounter in performing PEP audits and the strategies used to address them. Presenters will discuss their experiences and challenges related to understanding the entity and obtaining sufficient appropriate audit evidence. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions of the experts.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the nature of PEPs and how they differ from other plan types
• Recognize unique accounting issues impacting PEPs and best practices
• Recognize unique auditing issues impacting PEPs and best practices

Overview of financial reporting requirements for government pension plans. 

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss the various type of government pension and OPEB plans and the key similarities and differences between each
• Identify the financial reporting requirements for government pension and OPEB plans, and common financial reporting errors encountered
• Identify the types of required supplementary information for each type of pension and OPEB plan and the sources for such information

You have uncovered an error in the audit of your retirement plan client.   Documenting that an error occurred and moving on will not satisfy auditing standards.  An auditor needs to understand the impact of the error to the financial statements and tax-qualified status of the plan.  Attendees will understand common errors identified in a retirement plan audit and how to address the impact on the financial statements.  Additionally, the presenters will go through the correction methods available to plan sponsors so that attendees can feel confident in assessing the impact of the error on the financial statements and to help guide the client to ensure that necessary corrections will be made to bring the plan back into compliance and the tax-qualified status of the plan will not be jeopardized.  

Learning Objectives:

• Attendees will gain an understanding of correction methods of common errors uncovered in an audit.
• Attendees will gain an understanding of how to address the impact of an error on the audit and how to guide a plan sponsor to help with necessary corrections of the error.

This course equips auditors to adapt risk assessment and audit procedures in light of payroll processes and payroll compliance requirements.  Attendees will analyze various definitions of compensation and will consider how prevailing wages can impact an employee benefit plan audit.   

Learning Objectives:

• Identify audit guidance applicable to understanding and testing payroll
• Review an audit approach for testing payroll
• Differentiate between various definitions of compensation and how they apply to EBP audits
• Consider prevailing wage audit implications and risks

This session will utilize an illustration of the Form 5500 return to perform a practical overview of Form 5500 and its related schedules, focusing on what auditors need to consider when determining if it is "substantially complete" and when compariing to audited financial statements.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize material inconsistencies between the Form 5500 and the financial statements.
• Acquire practical insights and tips to efficiently review a Form 5500 through illustrative examples.
• Utilize the AICPA EBP AQC Form 5500 considerations for auditors as a resource when reviewing Form 5500.

This session clarifies what control risk is, how it differs from inherent risk, and why and when auditors assess it. Using employee benefit plan examples, we’ll illustrate typical areas of reliance on operating effectiveness, and the related considerations, pros/cons and pitfalls.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe control risk and related control risk factors
• Identify examples where a test of controls may effectively reduce substantive testing

This is an opportunity for participants to have questions answered by various experts.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify information in critical plan audit areas.
• Recognize questions asked by attendees.